496 Procharger 3.5psi
 

Anyone have the lower 3.5psi procharger on their 496 HO? What is your experience? Did you have anyone reprogram your ECU? Safe for moderate usage?

the 496 in stock form is a great and reliable engine but not a good candidate for supercharging of any sort without beefing up the internals, this is where the 496 gets a bad rap, there are alot of threads on this already and ray at raylar has quite a few posts on what to do when supercharging this engine, he is the one to listen to for advise

Dave:

I don't believe any stock block 496 (8.1L) engine is a long term reliable engine package no mater what ECM re-programming has been done. If you must use the supercharger, I believe Dustin at Whipple has done a few special programs for Prochargers on 496's but he's not gonna give you any guaranties and unless you do actual A/F measurments in the boat under load the chance of getting right by mail is slim odds.
If you really want to properly supercharge your 496 and get some real power from boosts of 5-9lbs or so you need to go thru the block and get a set of good supercharger forged pistons and rods like those we sell as well as a better supercharger grind camshaft and cylinder head valve train upgrades to get a more reliable supercharged package.
The special programming will still be a must so don't GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT IT!
If I can be of help please give me a call and I will try and keep you out of trouble.

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

I have about 350 hours on my 3.5 pc with no trouble.I did not reprogram or make any other mods. Like any other engine it depends on how you treat it as to how many problems you have!

Checkeredpast:

Glad to hear you have been one of the lucky ones. since you are in a group of probably less than 10% of the stock block 496 owners who have had such success with a Pro-Charger you are happily a good luck owner. Hope you stay in that category.
At those boost levels of under 4psi its easier and their over fueling FMU keeps it fat and in some cases out of trouble, especially when owners like you use conservative use and driving modes.
Wonder why Pro-Charge quit offering the 496 supercharging kit for the 496 about 3 or 4 years ago??

Hey, if your a performance boater with a Merc 496 and you always do well at the crap tables, then by all means keep playing the odds and stay in that hopeful elite group of successful supercharger users on stock block 496's.

When and if it stops working,call Raylar and we can help you with the parts or builds for a more reliable supercharged 496.

In the mean time enjoy your good fortune and boat fun and safe!

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

No disrespect ,but Pro charger still offers the 496 kit.

Well,l then I stand corrected if that is now the case.. A few years back they had told some 496 owner inquirers that they stopped offering it under for the technical reason customers were told that they did not have the ability to reprogram the ECM and felt that was an issue with the newer 496's. Obviously they have changed their mind. Hope it all works out well for those who use it.

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

Thanks for the input. Wont do anything for a while and am just doing rearch on future power inprovements. After what i have read and the peeps i've talked to it does seem to be a crap shoot on forced induction on a stock 496HO. Even the retailers i have talked to state to stay away from the 5psi models of any supercharger unless you upgrade the internals so i was just curious what the consensus might be for a smaller 3.5psi unit and reliability. I have 93 octance fuel available and dont rag my boat out. Just looking at the possibility of adding a little extra umph for occasional needs but mostly cruising at a desirable mph and rpm without holding the throttle down without major upgrades.

On another note, why would procharger and their retailers keep a product in production and sell it if it has such a bad rap in blowing up engines? Does anyone reprogram ECU's for procharger usuage? Just wondering. thanks

[QUOTE=Raylar;3599051]Checkeredpast:

Glad to hear you have been one of the lucky ones. since you are in a group of probably less than 10% of the stock block 496 owners who have had such success with a Pro-Charger you are happily a good luck owner. Hope you stay in that category.
At those boost levels of under 4psi its easier and their over fueling FMU keeps it fat and in some cases out of trouble, especially when owners like you use conservative use and driving modes.

Just asking, if he is in the lucky 10%, does that mean that 90% of all procharged 496s have had issues? That would be a pretty big black eye for that company as well as their retailers. It seems the product has been around for quite a while. I just got an email from CP Performace telling me all about prochargers special pricing for january and it included the 496.

Sell the 496 :party-smiley-004:

I ran a 3.5 psi ProCharger for 4 years & 200 hours on a 496 Mag.... no ECU reprogram.... NO PROBLEMS EVER! And the motor is still running perfect for the new owner today last I heard....boat went from turning a 24 Bravo one at 4900 rpms to turning a 28 Bravo one at 4900 rpms... nothing changed in the mannerism of the 496 under 4000 rpm's... once into the boost, over 4000 rpms... everything changed... including the gas mileage!

I wouldn;t hesitate a minute to procharge a 496Mag 3.5 psi.... remember Mercury used to warantee their 525SC for one year back in the 90's with only 3 lbs of boost.... 3lbs won't hurt a thing on that motor.....

My 496 was rebuilt to be ran with the PC. All forged internals, balanced and blueprinted. SS and inconel valves, upgraded springs, blower cam, bigger injectors, PCM programmed in boat while under way. It now makes totally reliable power and I am not worried about calling on it. Also still get good fuel milage at cruise. My 34 prop will push up to a best of 102 MPH and that is only at 4.5 lbs of boost. I could go a bit more boost if I wanted, but I'm happy with it being totally reliable. Downside is that it cost a lot of $$$$$ to totally rebuild the motor to these specs.

JB

I wouldn't boost anything without forged pistons. Just my opinion though.

I totally agree!

i read somewhere that you get approx. 25hp for every pound of boost...3 pounds on an ho would get you around 500hp...not too bad,i guess

3.5 gets 580hp on a ho. The25 hp per pound of boost is after the first 3. the 5 psi kit makes 625.

For those who are lucky enough to run stock block mercury 496's with superchargers even those at 3.5 lbs of boost, no ECM reprogramming and have no issues from the engine you have joined the lucky 10% club and all the best to you. If you don't care for 10/90 odds then I would beef up the rotating assembly before you go there.
Just my professional opinion, but what the heck do I know ?

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

I don't believe the 1 in 10 odds...... but I'm sure you see the ones that don't work out... and never hear from the ones that do....

so true,and same here...i only see the exploded harleys...

thanks...you just gave me 50 hp i didnt know i had !!

Did you remove the turbulators?

Yeah... I replaced them with chrome muffler bearings...LOL... no... I did not...

Yes,,,, and that engine had totally different pistons (which is the major problem in the 496).

Not even a close comparison; especially when you consider the fact that hypereutectic pistons continue to get more brittle with use.

I broke mine without any boost -

I must be one of the lucky ones too. I ran a Whipple with 5psi on an all stock 496 for 3 years and 100+ hours. I belive that it hade alot to do with Dustin and his reflash on the ecm. You just cant beat Whipple and the product suport that Dustin gives.

No doubt there are several owners out there who can get away with this and in my estimation (for what it's worth), here's what happens:

Lots of guys add on extra mods etc and NEVER really run the boat hard. They wanna push it hard for about 20-30 seconds and see the GPS top out. Most of their use is cruising and rpm's below 4800.

But a guy like me who spends & spends to get the power - I'll ring that b_tch out and buy 3 or 4 tanks of fuel @ Havasu in a day. If you play with it and enjoy the performance you ain't gonna run it long with boost before you have to tear it all down again.

Not being negative nancy but I know that engine well. Respectfully, DON'T be fooled by the fact that you feel as though you don't hear from the guys who had "good" experiences.

I've had lot of guys off this site call me. We talk about it for 45 minutes. They go off in a direction.. And then I get another phone call 3 or 4 months later.

The only real defense in the idea of how you "never hear of the good experiences" might only be provided by the fact that few boaters ever join this site per-capita.

But if you are a very sensible user, why not put the charger on it - - - Eventually everything breaks anyway no matter how you build it.

:ernaehrung004:

I agree with what I think you are saying... and that is if you use it moderately.... they will last... but if you are going to run the thing full tilt boogie all day long.... it won't last long... they do not become a full race engine simply by adding 3.5lbs of boost... but you can add it & enjoy it in moderation....

i think if you're the kind of guys that runs wide open all day (not that many,even if you pretend to be one),you dont buy a 496 to start with

We do in fact offer a tune for the PC, but its based off larger injectors, getting rid of the FMU, 2 bar map sensor and a standard adjustable regulator. Works with 3-9psi of boost, although ideally suited for 4-6psi.

I would think that if 90% of 496's with a Procharger were grenading, this forum and a lot of other forums would be blowing up with people complaining. jmo

:eekdrop: Obviously I am not running my boat as hard as I thought! I try to find a cove asap when One of my tanks is half empty lol

That is what i was thinking. Drive a 3.5psi procharged 496 HO responsibly with some occasional bursts of high speed followed by decent cruising rpms and you'll be alright. If it was grenading all over the place than noone would carry the line and there would be class action lawsuits. I am still considering my options though, supercharging versus new engine...damn all i need is alot of money!

i like mine so far (496ho/whipple),but i dont have enough hours on it to draw any conclusion....the engine has eagle rods and .030'' wiseco blower pistons,so this might save my azzz in the long run

You do know that the GM LSA engine has hyperutetic pistons right? So the new Camaro ZL1, Caddy CTSV and many marine applications in ski-boats and air boats have this same motor in it.

Hyperutetic is not a problem if you maintain decent cylinder pressures. What kills them is over pressure from detonation and high temps.

There have been many, many, many PC failures on 496's. We've done A LOT of PCM's for these. There "key" is to tell you to start at 40psi on there FMU and adjust after reading the spark plugs. So if you fail, you didn't read the plugs right! LOL They would be better off adding $200 to each kit and giving customers some wide band O2 gauge and bung and say this is part of the install, adjust until its 11.5:1 @ WOT. That would be better then giving people 20psi range of fuel psi.

Running small injectors, stock pump with an FMU is a receipe for a disaster. You can't even properly match fuel psi rising rate with injector flow. The stock pumps nearly stall at 75psi yet you need nearly 80psi to make them have enough flow. Get into colder conditions, now your maxxed out on injector. Running injectors at 100% all the time means you have almost no control, and thats exactly what they are doing. Do you know how much more fuel you need when the air temp is 60deg F vs 100deg F? Factory PCM has the compensation, but when the injectors are 100% open, doesn't really matter what the PCM says to do at that point!! Can't go to 100%. Not only that, the PCM555 goes bonkers when injectors go 100% and the motor goes very lean.

Why do people ask questions like this and then refuse to take the advice that the PRO"S give them ???? You are getting advice from some of the best in the business yet you will not listen . So my advise to you is go buy a pro charger bolt it on blow all your sh!t to hell then come back and tell use how you made out . :rolleyes:

Maybe because alot of "pros" are just salesmen trying to sell you something you really do not need?

Put the pro-charger on and give it he11. Don't listen to anyone who tells you not to do it. Those self-proclaimed pros who've had failures and who have lots of experience playing with that engine really know nothing. Buy the PC.

We need something more fun to read than this thread..

:daz:

Like I said in an earlier post... I did put one on & ran it for 5 yrs & 200 hours WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS....and the new owner is still running it.....

Good Knowledable Advice?:

"WISE MAN DON'T NEED IT AND THE FOOL WON'T HEED IT!"

Kinda says it all!

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

Is that one of your motors in SDFevers picture Ray?

Then there's this famous quote.....

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing